13 Days of Halloween- Part 11

In celebration, my sister-in-law, husband, and I collaborated to present to you The 13 Days of Halloween. The story is an original fairy tale retelling by Melanie Bernard, images by Morgan and Ryan Bernard.

Little Red (Part 11)

Brádach dives for his sword. His fingers just graze the hilt when a large paw clamps down on his leg and drags him back. “No!” Fear fills his blue eyes as he faces the monster.

Another places a paw on his chest, pinning him to the frost-covered earth.

“Why ya doin’ dis?”

The girl rises. She stares the huntsman down from where she stands next to her dead father. “Yer family paid a blood debt to release yerselves from yer heritage, but not yer blood.”

Claws extend from the paw on his chest. They pierce through his flesh and rake lines across his abdomen.

The huntsman screams. Blood spills the wounds, pooling into his shirt and painting the ground red.

“Yer family paid our blood to release yerselves from de wolf.” She spits on the ground. “Ya wanted to be human. Ya wanted to be able to walk de land o’ man witout fearing yer change, but ya didn’t want to make any sacrifices to do it.”

The girl inclines her head. Darkness trickles into her voice when she adds, “now yer blood will release mai family.”

While the two monsters tear into the huntsman’s flesh, a third slinks around behind them. Its green eyes settle on his handsome, anguished-filled face. Drawing near, it meets Brádach’s gaze before slicing its claws through his neck and ending his life.